Microsoft looking to buy AOL???

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rokrok
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
okay, i would link directly to the register article about this, but it's slashdotted to death right now, so it'll just have to be the macfixit snippet for now:



Quote:

Monday, March 22 2004 @ 07:25 AM PST

New and Noteworthy: Microsoft in talks to buy AOL?



Microsoft in talks to buy AOL? The Guardian reports that Time Warner, struggling to stem the decline of its America Online division, is reported to have held talks about selling the business to Microsoft. "Executives of the two companies are said to have met for discussions about a possible deal in the past few months. Time Warner lawyers have also been asked to overcome any potential roadblocks to the transaction from Washington, the New York Post reported."



i think i just soiled myself.



edit: p.s. anyone think that if microsoft attains a certain "critical mass," that it should just be federally regulated like a public utility, as opposed to a profit-generating company? i mean, if microsoft becomes THE way for computers to work worldwide, then there had better be SOME sort of protection in place to keep costs down, ensure security, and make sure the entire system doesn't go down if a company goes under. yeah, i know, it's microsoft we're talking about here, but no one thought enron and worldcom would go under either.



of course, if i were the government, i wouldn't touch that hornet's nest with a ten foot pole.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    hmmm AOL is somewhat tight with Apple right now.... a MS buy out would mean that a huge microsoft product was directly integrated with itunes... GASP!
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  • Reply 2 of 5
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Not going to happen. Not even the government would ignore this one.



    1) AIM/iChat poofs.

    2) The iTunes Music Store deal poofs.

    3) You now have the two largest nationwide ISPs as one?



    No.
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  • Reply 3 of 5
    Dial up services is a joke. AOL's business is declining since more people are moving to high speed. If this did happen, big deal. I haven't met anyone that uses AOL or MSN in a good while.
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  • Reply 4 of 5
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by scavanger

    Dial up services is a joke. AOL's business is declining since more people are moving to high speed. If this did happen, big deal. I haven't met anyone that uses AOL or MSN in a good while.



    A joke that still makes up the majority of home internet connections, and most importantly the ones of first-time/tech-unsavvy computer buyers who are easily swayed by whatever is put in front of them first. I'd rather do without Microsoft's tendrils wrapping around one of the biggest content distributors on the net.
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  • Reply 5 of 5
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    what's really disturbing about all the people that use AOL is that lots of people on college campuses STILL use AOL. let me see, pay 25 bucks a month for a slow service, or use a fast service that your tuition is already paying for???? pisses me off....
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